Castration of male livestock is performed for behavioral and meat quality reasons. It causes significant pain that can be effectively managed with analgesics yet is often performed without pain relief.
Castration pain management is one of the clearest cases where the knowledge to prevent suffering exists but is not universally applied. Effective, affordable analgesics for livestock castration are available and their use dramatically reduces suffering. The barriers are largely economic and cultural rather than technical. Regulatory requirements for pain relief during castration represent one of the most impactful welfare policy interventions available.